Oconee Co. Judge Postpones Decision On Noise Ordinance Violation

Following and hour-long trial on Friday, Oconee County Magistrate Court Judge Sam Barth postponed his decision on whether Oconee Waste Transport violated the county’s noise ordinance while operating prior to 7 a.m. behind at least one business along Epps Bridge Parkway.

Clyde Edwin Pittman, an Athens plastic surgeon who lives at 1591 Tanglebrook Drive just off Epps Bridge Parkway, testified that he has been awakened in his home going back five years by haulers picking up trash from dumpsters at businesses on Epps Bridge Parkway.

Pittman also testified that he had driven to the IHOP on that road and witnessed on at least one occasion that an OWT truck was causing the noise.

Paul Smith, retired Oconee County Code Enforcement officer, testified that he had tried to get OWT to stop dumping, shaking and dropping dumpsters between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., consistent with the county’s Noise Ordinance, and that he wrote a citation in January of 2017 as a “last resort.”

OWT is owned by Matt Elder, a member of the Oconee County Industrial Development Authority.

In 2012, then Magistrate Court Judge Eric Norris found Elder in violation of a county zoning ordinance for operating his Oconee Waste Transport business on SR 15 south of Watkinsville before 6 a.m.

Barth said on Friday he will issue a ruling on the charge of violation of the county’s Noise Ordinance within a week.

For more on the story, with a video of the trial, go to Oconee County Observations.

Pictured: Code Enforcement Officer Paul Smith